After watching Pfeiffer and Day-Lewis submerge molten 19th-century sparks here, it is now conceivable that Scorsese could make compelling cinema out of “Three Blind Mice.” [17 Sept 1993, Life, p.1D]

It is by turns comic, dark and surprisingly tender. If one must reduce it to simple description, call it a love story with a twist. Or a twisted love story.

The exhilarating, inventive and suspenseful story hinges on a pair of commanding performances.

A thoroughly compelling political thriller, at once intellectually challenging and profoundly emotional.

Despite the unsexy title, it's one unusually well told. [11 Aug 1993, p.1D]

The villains are fairly obvious in “Flower Moon,” but Scorsese asks audiences to take a wider look at systemic racism, historical injustice and the corruptive influence of power and money, intriguingly tying together our past and present.

Can be taken on many levels, and that's why it works so completely.

Pearson's scenes with Garfield are among the most supercharged ever. [28 May 2004, p.6E]

Borat is most gloriously funny moving picture for to make people see their stupidness.

In creating the film, Chung pulled from his own childhood growing up in Arkansas, and Minari works because it feels so personal as you root for a fragmented family weathering resentment and heartbreak in an uplifting and very universal tale.

Director Josh Safdie’s globetrotting, genre-busting comedy thriller is a proudly oddball period movie that boasts throwback elements but leans timeless in its unlikely hero’s journey.

Rafael Sabatini's 17th-century surgeon goes from slave to swashbuckler, Michael Curtiz directs to Erich Wolfgang Korngold music, and a major studio takes an unprecedented gamble on two unknowns to star: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. [15 Apr 2005]

Though no film for the ages, it's two grown-up hours to tickle clear, sharp, minds. [27 Jan 1995, p.4D]

The period drama The Power of the Dog is a picturesque, enthralling exploration of male ego and toxic masculinity, crafted by an extremely talented woman and offering enough nuanced bite to keep it interesting till the very end.

The best fictional movie about skiing. [27 Nov 2009, p.13D]

Drama, comedy, action and romance are intertwined in this gorgeously photographed and brilliantly directed film. Lead performances are thoroughly engaging despite - or perhaps because of - being wordless.

Campion's script is very well received, but the film finally makes it on cinematics: bleakly beautiful photography, haunting score, and good acting. [12 Nov 1993]

It takes a filmmaker possessed of a rare, almost alchemic, blend of maturity, wisdom and artistic finesse to create such an intimate, moving and spare war film as Clint Eastwood has done in Letters From Iwo Jima.

Cassavetes wrote and directed on his standard improvisational shoestring. The oft-shattering result, which runs 2 1/2 hours, is so uneasily lifelike that the academy temporarily ignored its prejudice against independent productions by rewarding Rowlands and Cassavetes with Oscar nominations. [18 Sep 1992, p.3D]

An artsy display put on by Kaufman and fellow co-director Duke Johnson that raises the level of the genre, though it sometimes tries to enjoy its individual oddity too much chronicling one night in a bored businessman’s life.

[Olivier's] greatest Shakespearean movie. [27 Feb 2004]

This subject demands consummate screen treatment and now has absolutely gotten it from director/producer Spike Lee. [10 Jul 1997, Pg.02.D]

Topically relevant and emotionally overwhelming, John Ford's memory-movie concerns the devastation of a Welsh coal-mining family after mine owners impose cutbacks. [16 Jun 1992, p.6D]

The Little Mermaid, or Hans Christian Andersen Goes Hip, is the most thoroughly socko kiddie cartoon feature in decades. [15 Nov 1989, p.1D]

A wonderfully odd, bleakly comic and thoroughly engrossing film.

In Capote, Philip Seymour Hoffman's brilliant transformation into the mannered writer takes your breath away.

Writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) crafts an expertly structured, brutal, yet surprisingly rousing narrative around a woman who’s ready to torch her entire life if it means catching a killer.

It's a mature, intricately layered visual delight.

Simultaneously an immersive concert film, enchanting romance and tear-jerking rock fantasy, A Star Is Born is a dynamic multifaceted showcase for Gaga and Cooper, who makes his directing debut a thing of melodic, masterful beauty. Together, they form an electrifying duo in one of the best movies of 2018 and the finest musical since 2002’s “Chicago.”

The year's most riveting documentary.

Does the finest job of any film in painting a believable portrait of aging, capturing the sadness, confusion, anxiety and defiance of the early stages of dementia.

Would it have been better to be in the room where it happened? Sure, the magic of watching excellent musical theater happening in front of you is impossible to re-create. But as the recent “Cats” movie proved, sometimes veering too off-course from the stage production isn’t great, either, so why not embrace a filmed version of this spectacular thing?

Sneakily utilizing production design and uncanny good editing, The Father fascinatingly puts the viewer in the same state of distress as its main character. And in adapting his own play, the director’s carried over an intimate quality of a staged chamber drama to not just show a man dealing with dementia but also offer a way into his mind with a haunting, deeply affecting and quite memorable narrative.

A little slapstick, a little action, rich characters and a whopping serving of wit. All baked to near-perfection.

Let's say it without equivocation: Colin Firth deserves an Oscar for his lead role in The King's Speech as the stammering King George VI.

Lean, mean and mordant black comedy.

Easily the summer's, and probably the year's, most enchanting movie, Up is a buoyant delight.

With both physicality and line delivery, Stone evolves this refreshing character with every new experience.

What's most amazing is the finely nuanced performances these bits and bytes deliver.

While the themes are deep, Black Panther is at the same time a visual joy to behold, with confident quirkiness (those aforementioned war rhinos), insane action sequences and special effects, and the glorious reveal of Wakanda, whose culture is steeped in African influences but which also offers a jaw-dropping look at what a city of the future could be.

Sweet (maybe) - but also painful (for sure). So painful that it's initially easy to resist this slice-of-Middlesex-life from Brit director Mike Leigh. Yet gradually, a mom, a dad and late-teen twins prove overwhelmingly winning through sheer willpower. Theirs, and the willpower of an idiosyncratic filmmaker who loves his characters no matter what. [24 Dec. 1991, p.4D]

Though it seems even spottier today than it did in '68, Cassavetes' most acclaimed work rebounds impressively after a near-unbearable opening half-hour. [29 Mar 1996]

Epic battles, spectacular effects and multiple story lines make The Two Towers a most excellent middle chapter in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

The cast is superb, especially King.

One of the year's most audacious, savagely funny and unpredictable films, it features an outstanding performance by Michael Keaton as the has-been star of a superhero franchise desperate to be taken seriously.

Director Gillian Armstrong takes the delicate snow globe that is Little Women and gives it a bold new shake. [21 Dec 1994]

Shine has a story to reckon with and powerhouse male performances.

Splendidly directed by Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? feels worn and lived in – in a good way – with a world of musty vintage tones and bar-room desperation given emotional life through McCarthy and a super supporting turn from Richard E. Grant.

Robert Altman's oddball send up of the late Raymond Chandler got a rigidly polarized response, but I love it. [21 Jun 1991, p.3D]

A stylistically fastidious, exasperatingly affected package that will put most people in the mood for slumber.

While the movie on the whole isn’t quite the caliber of the last two missions (“Ghost Protocol” and “Rogue Nation”), director Christopher McQuarrie’s action-packed “Fallout” set pieces are outstanding, finding great character moments in the middle of the explosiveness

A haunting and fascinating portrait of so much that is worth exploring: the implacability of nature, the hubris of human endeavor and the line between supreme dedication and madness.

Rollicking and heartbreaking in equal measure, the period musical drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom plays all the right notes, from Viola Davis mightily singing the blues to a brilliant, shattering final performance from the late Chadwick Boseman.

Hollywood excelled at this kind of toughie from the mid-'40s through the mid-1950s, and you can see this film's equal every night on a cable movie channel. This summer, however, it's a jewel. [22 July 1992, p.4D]

This adorable exercise in whimsy should give "Corpse Bride" a good fight for best-animated-film Oscar.

Through this very specific look at a critical time in Lincoln's presidency, Kushner, Spielberg and Day-Lewis work together to present an honest look at America's most revered statesman. Kushner finds an artful way to weave in the texts of the Gettysburg Address and the 13th Amendment, as well as a creative way to present Lincoln's assassination.

In this spare, unusual and intimate action thriller, Redford's expressions do nearly all of the communicating. He is the sole human cast member and utters only one word during the entire movie, which covers a span of eight days. The ocean — super-charged and becalmed — gets equal billing. If this sounds bizarre, or like an exercise in tedium, it is neither.

Banshees masterfully explores the complications of a platonic friendship – when old pals stop being polite and start getting real – with a sailor’s mouth and a mix of hilarity and tragedy in one wail of a tale.

Hereditary isn’t just a scary movie. It’s much, much, much worse than that.

There isn't much depth to The Fugitive, but you'll never know it (or care). In addition to a spectacular train/bus smashup and an exciting sewer chase, there's one of the funniest public confrontations since Cary Grant broke up the art auction in North by Northwest. Result: Warner Bros. has what it had last August with Unforgiven - a commercial movie with real class. [6 Aug 1993, p.1D]

Gracefully acted, and the story packs a powerful punch straight to the gut.

Accessibly brainy screen charmer.

Though the movie may not change many minds about McNamara, it richly humanizes him, a valuable feat atop all the fascinating reflection.

It's a heart-wrenching portrayal of unfulfilled Wyoming love, but this time, we don't mean Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur in "Shane."

It’s a slightly insane, hilariously daring and often touching mashup of everything that makes super-flicks so darn popular with the introduction of a Spider-Man who's ready-made for today’s generation of kids.

With “Tragedy of Macbeth,” something wicked this way comes – something familiar to anyone who remembers high school English classes but also at times a darkly enchanting delight.

Excitingly edited and evocatively scored, Microcosmos adapts big filmmaking techniques to tiny creatures. You get thrills, slapstick and even romance. [11 Nov 1996]

Murderball brilliantly captures the intensity of the little-known athletic competition, offering more intimacy and drama than most Hollywood sports movies.

Hawkins is terrific in her silent role, using her expressive face to sell Elisa’s dive into love and the complications that arise. Spencer is great, too, as the other half of that duo.

Caché is unsettling and tense, even shocking. And its story of enduring tensions between an Algerian immigrant and a well-off French family is particularly timely.

Mothers definitely get their due here: Birth mothers, adoptive mothers and mothers-to-be - with the only men in sight (save for one young fatality and one old eccentric) being those who wear flashy makeup and sport breasts

The supporting cast is strong, as is the deft, sharply witty script. Miller directs elegantly, letting the narrative unfold at a deliberate, artful pace.

With the astonishingly assured newcomer Jason Schwartzman to bounce off of, Murray has his best comic foil since those feisty rodents in Groundhog Day and Caddyshack. [5 February 1999, Life, p.11E]

Among the great cult movies of the '60s, this was director John Boorman's second feature and first of note after his debut with the Dave Clark Five's Having a Wild Weekend. [08 Jul 2005]

Twenty years ago, you could view early works of big-splash directors and often tell where they were coming from - or going. Yet Soderbergh and his debut project are mysteries. What can possibly come next? You won't be able to drag me out of line opening night. [4 Aug 1989, Life, p.1D]

The Tillman Story is a probing examination of truth, decency and the American way. It also explores deception and military propaganda and lays bare the ravages of grief.

The big story here is Kristin Scott Thomas' captivating performance.

Bruce Dern gives the performance of his career as the headstrong Woody in the brilliant, wisely observed and wryly funny Nebraska. What stands out is the fullness of the character, with mannerisms and expressions that make him wholly dimensional.

A delightfully robust fable about two passions that matter (sex and food). [17 May 1993, p.4D]

Oil derricks, booze, sports cars and nymphomania spelled huge box office. [10 Feb 2004]

The sequel both honors and reimagines the Spider-Man mythos for a new generation of movie fans with an artistic bent, a love for its characters and a willingness to break the rules to create something special.

As good as "Unforgiven." Or, to put it another way, as good as any movie Eastwood has ever directed.

Goldoni is spectacular here as a light-skinned black woman with a white admirer and an apartment full of her brother's hooligan buddies. And, oh, what shots of the era's New York movie marquees. [22 May 1998, p.6E]

An instant classic, an Oscar-worthy showcase for Jeremy Irons, and a tightrope ballet over dicey screen material… A subtle movie - and thus a disturbing one. Like “Vertigo,” “The Night of the Hunter,” “Repulsion” and a few others, it finds beauty in morbidity - then nags you to come back for a second dose. [23 Sept 1988]

With its ceaseless music, large canvas, shrewd casting and flawless ensemble acting and the dexterity of its whiplashing mood switches, the movie recalls Robert Altman's "Nashville" more than any subsequent movie has.

This gem features five topnotch, multidimensional performances in one of this summer's most engaging films.

The best news the G rating has had since the ratings system was instituted in 1968.

Fury, I Am a Fugitive, Wild Boys of the Road and Emperor of the North come immediately to mind as definitive Depression movies. This little gem, which may get overlooked, deserves to be on the same list. [20 August 1993, p.5D]

Sissy Spacek goes vengefully telekinetic in one of director Brian De Palma's best movies, and her scenes with mom Piper Laurie (both actresses were Oscar-nominated) release a lot of energy themselves. [29 Jun 2004]

Bedroom succeeds with performances that get some of their power from imaginative casting.

It’s an essential watch for every music fan, even if you’re not an Elvis junkie.

Not since Tuesday Weld in "Pretty Poison" has an actress so played off her fresh-faced beauty for such pointed black-comic effect.

Small-town setting, big-time charm. Paul Newman is no fool for taking this perfect-fit role as a hard-luck construction worker who reunites with his son. [03 Feb 1995, p.4D]

One bad idea can unravel and ruin lives in unimaginably horrific ways.That's the concept underlying the riveting Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, a sharply acted and highly entertaining morality play.

Like “Donnie Darko” or David Lynch’s entire oeuvre, “Glow”... blends the real and the surreal in a neon-drenched nightmare that leaves a trail of thematic breadcrumbs for its audience.

Deliver Us From Evil is so horrifying it makes "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" look like a walk in the park.

Crowe has invented a fresh character in Lloyd Dobler, and Cusack has invested him with an ingratiating persona that helps avert disaster when things become a bit melodramatic in the final resolution. [14 April 1989]

This Preston Sturges classic cast Hutton as a small-town girl who gets pregnant by a soldier whose name she can't remember. No film better channels her comic energy or makes better use of her obvious yearning for acceptance. [19 Jun 2000]